>> this is al jazeera america, live from new york city. i'm sunny sunny. 911 tapes display calmness at the sandy hook elementary school. and president obama discussed the gap between rich and poor. and this congress goes down known as the least productive. a florida high school placed on high school after a shooting. one student has been injured at

west orange high school outside of arsenal. the school's principal said student had been shot and was en route to the hospital. law enforcement officers were at the scene and they were observing all safety procedures. we'll bring you more information as we get it. in a matter of just ten days the nation will mark the one year anniversary of the sandy hook massacre. today brought a painful remind reminder. prosecutors have released 911 called. al jazeera will not air those calls. >> reporter: we did listen to seven calls shortly after fires were shot inside sandy hook elementary school. a woman called the police dispatcher and said she had

glimpsed someone running down the hall with a gun saying they were still shooting. and glass had been shot out but the school was on lock down. officers entered the school nine minutes after the 911 call. by then the shooting was over and adam lanza had killed himself after takings lives of 20 children and six educators. >> we're not playing the calls and for obvious reasons, but i'm still curious as to the tone of

the calls you listened to. >> reporter: some of them were calm. the custodian was a little bit concerned, obviously, but i couldn't call him to be in a state of emotional distress. the teacher in her room was unusually calm. she had not been able to lock the door. the police asked her if she do the safety, she said she couldn't. she was told to just keep every quiet and take care of the children, take care of herself. there were spouse who is had received text messages from their loved one inside the building. all in all you would have to call the response, especially on the part of the dispatcher, but those making the calls cool and

calm. >> hard to react when you're panicked. calm make sense. randall. thank you. the u.s. economy is growing, but so is the income gap between rich and poor americans. president obama addressed the problem. >> the lack of upward mobility that has jeopardized middle class america's if you work hard you can get ahead. this is defining of our time. making sure that our economy works for every working american. >> the president did not propose any initiatives during his speech. but he said a rapidly growing of deficit opportunity is a bigger threat than the fiscal. we'll go to danny, professor of economics, great to have you

back. >> thank you. >> a pleasure, you heard just a moment ago, america's dangerously growing income is defining the challenge of our time. is the president correct, or is he, as some would say, overstating the income inequality and wealth gap argument with that kind of a statement? >> no, if anything there is an understatement. he's absolutely correct saying that it is a defining problem. and this problem has just--it has been exacerbated by global pressures. it is an issue that the white house--i had an opportunity to attend a summit at the white house by the president's council with economic advisers. it is an issue that has to be

addressed in light of what is taking place in the economy. >> let's drill down an a bit. we had a conversation before we went to air. as concerned as you are about income inyou quality, you're even more concerned about the wealth gap. >> if you look at income and equality. it is extreme and the worst it has ever been. but if you look at the wealth gap, the gap in wealth between rich and middle class and poor, even more so between minorities and non-minorities has really been exacerbated by the last recession. and it was caused by the fact that much of the wealth that mild class and minoritiemiddle s

home wealth. >> as you mentioned, there is a fundamentally change in the job market, part time and contract workers how has that impacted wealth in the country? >> exactly. you get these global competitor pressures coming from all arm the country. the euro zones china, brazil, corporate sector in this country has to address that. the way they have addressed that is by down sizing the workforce on one hand and changing employment policies on the other happened. so you see a lot more contract workers being employed. they're essentially self employed even though they're working for the corporat corpor. the corporation doesn't have to

worry about benefits or otherwise. and we have part time workers employed who would like to have full time jobs. so part time workers becoming permanent fixture, and so corporations don't have to pay them benefits. one aspect where that was used to accumulate wealth particularly for retirement have been eliminated in places of the job market. >> what are your thoughts about raising the minimum wage? >> it absolutely has to be raised. we have people who work every day, eight hours or more a day and still living in poverty. many studies demonstrated and found that raising the minimum wage would not have a negative effect on employment. paying higher wage for lower quality jobs improved their

importance, reduced labor turnover and profitability of corporations. it needs to be raised. >> thank you for your time. we'll have you back on soon. >> my pleasure. >> it's really the tale of two economies. president obama trying to focus on jobs. with here things are improving, but are they? onthen betjonathan betz to you s there. >> the rich are truly getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer. what does this mean? first off the median income for american household was 51,000 last dollars last year. that's down. $83 from the year before and it's down from 1999. $5,000 less when you adjust for inflation. however the economy is growing but almost all the money being made is frankly going to the very rich. since 2009.

income of the top 1% grew by 31%. money is being made, but only for about million and a half people. for everyone else, 99% of the population their salaries have barely moved in four years less than 1%. the richest are taking home the most money since the 1920 1920'. some suggest the tax cuts for the wealthy, and there has been an explosion of wall street fat cats and techies. and robots have taken many jobs since the 1970's. right now it's $7.25. president obama has suggested bumping up minimum wage. if americans were paid for how hard they truly work, minimum wage should be $22 an hour.

improvements in the economy are not felt by most people and that concerns the president who worries the american dream of working yourself up may be you turning into that, just a dream. >> just stark numbers. appreciate it. now to ca capitol hill where congress has a lot on it's aplate, but it's not clear if lawmakers will get anything done. the white house is back in session and it plans to leave town on december 13th. the senate hopes to wrap up it's business on the 20th. let's go to capitol hill, libby, how much home i hope is there tt anything will get done? >> reporter: there is a long list of items that the republicans and democrats would like to sow get tackled, including the defense spending bill and food stamps and

agriculture agenda. and he's trying to push congress to extend unemployment benefits. long-term unemployment benefits set to expire on the 28th. they give 18 months of benefits to americans out of work. and if congress doesn't act it drops down to 18 months or less than that. >> christmastime is no time to tell 1 million of americans that they have lost their unemployment insurance which is what will happen if congress does not act before they leave on holiday vacation. >> now congress is on track, tony, to have a historically low number of laws put into action this year. we're looking at 60 so far. house speaker john boehner, leader of the republicans and house overall had this push back against democrats who he's

blaming for the lack of action. >> the house has passed nearly 150 bills this congress that the united states senate has failed to act on. many of them would help our economy and boost job creation. nearly 150 bills passed by this house yet to be acted on by the senate. >> regardless of the finger pointing there is just a couple of weeks left until the year ends. >> the last time congress had a fight over the budget this past october the government shut down for 16 days. what are we facing this time around? >> reporter: another big item is coming up with the federal budget plan. january 15th. if congress can't come to an agreement we'll be facing another government shutdown. both parties have no interest in seeing that a happen again. they had so many angry calls, letters, everything from constituents. so right now we see a budget

conference committee, with some con season does that they can bring to the broader house and senate to get the budget pushed forward. >> we'll pick up on that point as congress nears its christmas recess, they're working on a budget deal that it hopes it can pass. we are go to ginger, reporter for politico. is the budget deal taking shape, and if so what's in it? >> reporter: there is a deal starting to come together. we have the caveat that has the sayinsaying that it could fall t as any deal in congress. but paul ryan and patty measure which are very close to striking a deal on the budget that would roll back some of the sequester cuts and have new fees and keep government pending and avoid another government shutdown. >> new fees. riddle me this, when is a fee

increase, ginger, not a tax. >> it's not a tax when republicans support it. they're trying to craft increases in fees more revenue into the budget that republicans can get hyped who said no new taxes. some of this is expanding the base more people paying a fee by giving more access. increases and fees that have not been addressed in a long time. we don't know which ones specifically they'll sign off on. >> ginger, where is the trouble likely to come from, the left? the right? >> reporter: it will come from both sides. paul ryan will have to make a hard sale to republicans in his caucus. it's not clear whether or not the majority of republicans would back any deal. most of them oppose any extra spending, and democrats in the senate who think that tax increases should be included and it shouldn't have any cuts to programs that they see as vital to the american people. >> this is a small deal not the

grander bargain that has been talked about ad nauseam. is this kicking the can down the road because it can't make a big dial? >> reporter: not the grand bargain. a baby grand bargain that we're likely to see come out of the congress this year. it's a little bit of the nudging of the can. they'll address some federal employee benefit issues. nip at the i thinks of entitlement. it's a kick, but one that will be seen as progress and accomplishment by prong. >> ginger gibson, she is a congressional reporter from washington. the centers for medicare and medicaid services say more people are going to healthcare.gov , but fewer are encountering real errors. the president talked about healthcare, mike viqueira, joins us from washington.

why was this event important for the president to continue to push the healthcare law? >> reporter: you're right, the president in the second day of the reboot after the failure of healthealthcare.gov . lots of democrats very upset. lots of people trying to get healthcare, so what is the president trying to do? he's trying to talk to key constituencies, and remind everybody of the attributes as he sees them, boom care, as he has referred to it for two days in a row. who is he talking to? young invincibles, you and i are beyond that cohort, but these are the folks that they're counting on. these are the folks who must buy insurance. it's important to get folks who are healthier, i.e. younger into the system so all the premiums, all of the places make sense and it all balances out. that was the key. that yes, sir the president

spoke to activists here in the complex. still speaking to a larger audience, trying to encourage those folks to go out and tell their cohorts. those folks in their 20s to go out and get insurance like they're likely to do. >> i hope you haven't been discouraged by how hard it's been. because stuff that's worth it is always hard. civil rights movement was hard. giving women the right to vote, that was hard. workers have the right to organize, that was hard. it's never been easy. for us to change how we do business in this country. >> reporter: so the president back on offense trying to put the last two months behind him and resell the affordable care act as the deadline of decembe

december 23rd approach as soon as a winter storm is start to go make its way through the upper midwest after dumping snow in the west. let's take a look at these picture of a tractor trailer accident. the wow, the state highway parole said 300 car accidents across the wasatch front, a dozens of accidents were reported elsewhere in the state. let's go to dave warren. >> meteorologist: this is a wig storm and it will work its way across the mountains and bring cold air in and warm air from the south. that's the problem. the heavy snow dumped a lot of snow and caused a lot of problems on the roadway, and the cold air continues to move south. fast forward to now and tomorrow, here's the problem now we're getting warm air being pulled up from the south. cold air held in place and that warm air goes up over the cold

air. by the people you wake up friday morning you could be dealing with not snow but a mix of rain, sleet or phrasing rain. phrase freezing rain. some of this freezing rain could be heavy. it could bring ice accumulation where it freezes on contact and that could bring down tree limps, power outages and problems on the roadways. the southern plains, there are wind chills and this cold air will make it to the east coast. the timing is all coming up. >> mm-hmm, we don't want that. ahead on al jazeera america. all but lost, a majority part of u.s. filmmaking history. and the mexican manhunt for a stolen truck carrying radioactive waste.

deadly plane crash in new york. the commuter train was traveling far too fast, more than 80 miles an hour down the track. the question is why? lisa stark joins us from washington. what is the latest? >> that train should have been going at 30 miles an hour around the curve. there are no published reports this morning including from wabc, those reports indicate that the engineer, william rockefeller has said he may have zoned out at the controls. he may have dosed off and then snapped awake too late to stop the

train in time the ntsb will continue to interview the engineer and also look back at >> on wall street a late day rally almost got the dow into green, but the blue chips falling 24 points. it is the fourth consecutive losing session for the blue chips. investors fleeting over the possibility that the federal reserve will pull back on its stimulus. on jobs hiring picked up in several sections of the country. over the past two months the payroll firm adp reported $2,000

had been created in november. and the government will use the case against jp morgan chase as a template to go after more banks for mortgage fraud. the justice department hopes to file charges against several institutions last year. yp morgan agreed to pay $18 billion because of securities. big tobacco companies are making a major marketing push to capture the growing multi billion dollar e cigarette business but it has some worried. >> reporter: for more than a decade john smoked a pack a day.

he tried to quick but the habit was too son strong. he switc switched electronic cigarettes. he said the change in his physical well-being was dramat dramatic. >> food tastes better and incidental walk a mile under 20 minutes. >> reporter: it's vapor that he's inhaling, not oh smoke, the carcinogens are reduced to almost none. >> it's not the nick tin. it's the burning. so e cigarettes take away the burning and many of the harmful chemicals. >> the benefits have boosted profits. by the end of the year it could triple from 2012 t 2012.

>> reporter: advocates say its safer than cigarettes. but opponents say its still a form of smoking. and it lacks regulation and it's concealing it's danger. with no federal laws there are more than 250 brands of e cigarettes being marketed in the u.s. and for the first time since the 1960s some of that nicotine advertising is on television. >> with blue i took back my freedom. >> reporter: some fear that tobacco companies are using an age old tactic to recruit new smokers. >> i think the e cigaretted as are promoting cigarette smoke. >> reporter: but not all believe that e cigarettes are a gateway product to lifelong addiction.

>> we have stalled the numbers of smoking. i think e cigarettes will be part of the solution instead part of the problem. >> reporter: the administration could lead to strict regulation of the electronic cigarette market. until ene cigarette companies including big tobacco plan to keep pushing their product for those who choose to smoke. al jazeera, tulsa, oklahoma. >> mike morgan is here with a look at sports and the story of a coach's wallet getting light lighter. >> reporter: yes we saw this one coming. the nfl has fined pittsburgh steeler mike tomlin for interfering with the kick off. and the league said it will

consider a forfeiture of draft picks because he effected play on the field. tomlin remembers taking a step on the field during the kick off return on the field and he should have been fined for unsportsmanlike conduct. two sides have agreed to a seven year $153 million contract, the 30-year-old ellsbury hit 298el for the red sox and lead the league in stolen bases at 152. now they hope to resign robinson cacano and the seattle mariners have presented as a suitor for cano. they've come near the $200 million offer for cano which may be more than the yankees want to spend. >> thank you. ahead on al jazeera america, claims of highway hypnosis from

the engineer that derailed a commuter train on supplied. and convincing afghanistan president to allow troops to continue there past 2014.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. here's a look at your top stories. the recordings of 911 calls from the sandy hook elementary school shooting. there was a mixture of calm and anguish as town dispatchers urged at home to take cover. the new report shows healthcar healthcare.gov saw an enrollment jump after repairs were made to the website. preliminary numbers reveal 29,000 signed up for health insurance on sunday and monday. a figure that surpasses the whole month of october. and president obama said the income gap keeps growing and income inequality is

jeopardizing the middle class. and afghan president hamid karzai said no to security forces in n.a.t.o. until his demands are met. the bilateral security pack would allow troops to stay in afghanistan past 2014. patience to get a deal signed is running out. >> reporter: this is not fooling around. this is serious business. they are the words of u.s. secretary of state john kerry here in brussels on tuesday evening and addressing the afghan president hamid karzai. why hasn't this agreement been sign? john kerry wouldn't speculate was keeping them from signing the contract. his initial security adviser she

went to kabul last week and came away empty handed. troops and trainers can operate number 2014. they need to be planning their parliamentary cycle, and it cannot be turned on and off like a light switch. what they're trying to do is impress on ha had ha hamid karzo sign before the end of the year, a task that may be difficult as he won't budge. >> a pew research study for the first time in four decades the majority of americans say the u.s. is less powerful than it was a decade ago. 70% say that they think the u.s. is areis re less respected thant but believes the u.s. military

is the strongest in the world. joe biden is testing the u.s.-chinese relationship. >> challenge the government. challenge your teachers. challenge religious leaders. >> wow, okay. the president spoke at the u.s. embassy in beijing where he met students seeking visas to the united states. a state run chinese neighbor accused the u.s. of taking japan's side over a group of disputed islands. hezbollah is blaming israel of one of its senior commanders, israel is denying those allegations. hezbollah leader was assassinated outside of his home in beirut.

we have more about the leader and what his death means to the mostly shia muslim group. >> reporter: in the driving rain hezbollah prepared to put to rest one of its most senior commanders, a funeral in the mainly shia city where he grew up. in life little was known about the secretive leader. in death, some background is emerging. he had been a key figure in operations against israel 37 his place in hezbollah dating back to the '80's. he's thought to have played a part in the war against israel. his son was one of the fighters who died in an airstrike. his fate was to die from gunshots out of he's home. this one in south beirut. hezbollah immediately accused israel being behind the killing saying there had been several attempts in the past. israel denied involvement saying accusations were an auto reflex

without evidence. >> reporter: first its own security, when an important leader like this can be shot dead outside of his home. and also if this is a part of an escalating campaign against hezbollah for its involvement in the war of syria. last month there was a twitter claim after the bombing outside of the iranian embassy. this time from a known al-qaeda link group. there is thought there could be more targeting of hezbollah here in lebanon. >> is this going to stop here, or this is the beginning of a major assassination against the leadership or military wing of hezbollah. and that probably is the hardest question and how has hezbollah will prevent that from happening. >> reporter: lebanon's insecurity can only increase

after the aftermath of this killing, and hezbollah hazard threatened a response. andrew simmons, al jazeera, beirut. >> a manhunt is underway in six central states in mexico. they're looking for who stole a truck full of radioactive material. the driver said he was held at gunpoint when the heist took place. adam, i'm going to ask a different question of you. i want to know how dangerous these materials are that we're talking about here? >> reporter: well, they're extremely dangerous, especially if they fall in the wrong hands. according to mexico's national security commission this is the largest and most dangerous radioactive material stolen in mechanics. that's 4 grams was stolen. there have been losses or robberies of other amounts of radioactivity material that wasn't as dangerous and wasn't as large. they're out now. they have scanners set up across

the six states. they're scanning trucks at truck stops. they're looking at anything they can to find it but it seems to have disappeared. more than a day has gone by since this material was stolen. the commissioner said that he doubt that these thieves were specifically targeting the radioactive material used in medical treatments. he thinks it was mistake and it's quite common for carjacks, and so it's common to see trucks stolen, but what's not common is for them to be carrying radioactive dangerous material. >> is the iaea concerned about this or not terribly concerned? >> they released a statement earlier on wednesday saying its extremely dangerous. let's keep in mind there is a lot of radioactive material lost and stolen. last year, some 24 cases of stolen you radioactivity across

the world. they're working with mexican officials and the u.s. government is also working with mexican officials. there is no word yet what the contingency plan is over time. the head of the nuclear commission says they think the thieves will keep the truck but dump the housing that is holding the material. but they're not sure if they'll be able to find these thieves or if authorities will be able to track them down. >> do they give you any sense of how close they think they might be to find out who is responsible for cross-examine. >> reporter: thefor--for this? >> reporter: they don't want to say too much, they have a drag nat out and they're looking for this material. this is the poorest highway across the country, even leading to the u.s. border. they're not sure if

they'll be i believe to track it down. they haven't told us if they have positive leads so far. >> adam, thank you. service returns to the stop of a deadly train crash in new york. in fact, one of our own journalists hire at al jazeera took some video of the stop reopening. meanwhile the ntsb is continuing its investigation. it dismissed the comments made by the union' general chairman. they said it was counterproductive to the investigation and violates ntsb procedures. cities in the american rust belt are making major changes to undo years of decline and manufacture business. they're pushing their economies towards green project based industries. years of loss of the auto factories shut down and that has led to years of recovering.

many cities have tried different strategies to jump start a turn around. they find that it's the small projects that have the biggest impacts. we report from youngstown ohio. >> reporter: a crime fighting priest on a mission. >> what we're looking at here is formerly six blighted, boarded up, burned out nuisance houses that had been used for criminal activity such as gang hang outs, drugs, prostitution. they were havens for criminal behavior. we needed to get rid of them. >> reporter: after two parishioners were murdered nearby he persuaded government officials to allow them to turn the space into parks. >> crime has dropped claimcally. in the last two years crime has dropped in half.

>> reporter: johnstown, ohio, has lost half--youngstown has lost half of its population since the 1970s. >> if you compare it to a tsunami, you compare it to the waters that recede. >> reporter: youngstown is tearing many houses down. >> we would offer the house through our website and through on other means, to someone who intends to renovate it. every house that is torn down is one less neighborhood eyesore. one less potential crack house. this one is slated for demolition in just a few days. >> reporter: they turned to big projects like gary, indiana he, underused convention center. gary is selling houses for a

dollar an shrinking it's housing stock one house at a time. >> when you put out something too lofty, some would say it's a failure. but if we can get some smaller things. >> reporter: by going small they're giving themselves room to grow. al jazeera, youngstown, ohio. >> a follow u up to the shooting last not at the los angeles international airport. the suspect makes his appearance in court. this and more making headlines. >> reporter: the man accused of killing that tsa agent last month as lax made his first court appearance. paul ciancia was arraigned on first-degree murder charges. the judge declared him a menace to society and denied him bell. cian cia allegedly shot 12 bullets into the tsa agent who

died. his trial is set for next year a montana judge is refusing to step down after making disparaging remarks towards of rape victim an. a teacher was give just one month for raping a freshman girl. the girl "older" than her chronological age. she had committed suicide before the case went to trial. a state panel is now reviewing the judge's conduct. the whistles are blowing and protests are continuing in thailand. it is week two in their demonstrations. 3,000 people marched outside of police headquarters in ban bang.

thursday is the king's birthday. protesters say they'll resume their campaigns and the cleaning after the celebrations. on the sidelines, in brussels, russian foreign minister spoke out against the demonstrationdemonstrations in . protesters, some 300,000 people have taken to the streets, trying to stay worm at the same time. they want to forge closer advertise to the european union but the country's president wants to integrate with the russia. ukraine gain indians from the soviet union 20 years ago. there are many who are divided. some want to remain close to russia. it is running out of money, and leaving a lot of people believing an e.u. partnership could help. trying to figure out what is

causing a pod of whales to beach themselves. ten pilot whales have died so far and 40 continue to swim in three feet of water not far from the beach. the short-thinned pilot whales are known to inhabit deep water so they're certainly out of their element here. they usually swim in large groups, which is makes them vulnerable to mass strandings. >> oh, no. next on al jazeera america. neither seen nor horde. a facet of u.s. filmmaking bites the dust. and we have more on sports.

the inside story ray suarez hosts inside story next only on al jazeera america

>> while you were asleep, news was happening. >> here are the stories we're following. >> find out what happened and what to expect. >> international outrage. >> a day of political posturing. >> every morning from 5 to 9am al jazeera america brings you more us and global news than any other american news channel. >> tell us exactly what is behind this story. >> from more sources around the world. >> the situation has intensified here at the border. >> start every morning, every day, 5am to 9 eastern with al jazeera america.

>> alfred hitchcock and charlie championship lane, giants in cinema. they rose to fame in silent films but most of hollywood's earliest treasures are lost because of decay and neglect. [♪ music ] >> reporter: charlie championship lane, one of the greats of cinema, a pioneering entertainer. he rose to fame during the era of silent films. [♪ music ] a director, composer and actor, you is seen here in his sitting role, the enduring and enduring tramp. early motion pictures were caught silent because synchronized dialogue was not

yet possible. the sound composed to capture the emotional swell of the scene was added during editing. but it laid the groundwork for cinematography. modern film as we know it, talkies were born and silent film effectively disappeared. the golden age lasted from 1912 to 1929. 11,000 movies were made. but only a quarter of them have survived in their entirety. a lot of them this lower quality than their original format. another 5% are incomplete. the rest an overwhelming 70% are deemed lost because so few frames exhibit. one of the notable is this version of cleopatra.

the mere mints of footage preserved are now prized as a classic. the latest study released by the u.s. library of congress blames decay and neglect for the loss. the first generation of film stock was made of night trait which is extreme lathamible and decomposes. but movie studies have played a role in destroying prints and negatives and along with it, a part of cinematic history. al jazeera. >> mark morgan is here with a day of sports and let's talk nba action. >> reporter: i'm a huge hoops guy. >> me, too. >> reporter: who is your team. >> um -- out of time? lakers, but it's complicated we'll talk later.

>> reporter: let back to me. let's talk about the nba. we're over a month into the nba season already. we all know compelling score lines have developed. mark spears joins us live to offer his insight. the brooklyn nets are off to a horrendous start, and surprisingly assistant coach lawrence frank has been demoted. what happened between he and jason kidd? >> it's a continued soap opera mess, starting with the nets. i knew something was wrong when the season began and jason kidd sat two games out, and frank, the most noted assistant on their staff, he didn't get the chance to do it. they picked the assistant instead. that was confusing. then i heard things, it got worse from there. the relationship was bad and probably in frank's head, look, i could coach these guys better than jason. jason was probably hanging out

with his players just a couple monthsing a. it ended up being a bad mix. first soda gate and then. kevin garnett promises they'll be better but i don't see it. >> is kidd's job safe throughout the season regardless of how the team does? >> reporter: i think it's safe but it might get to a point where he'll walk away and say it's fought worth it. he's over his head and he has to lean on his assistance. that's what frank was for. certainly will is a lot of pressure and a lot of money to pay him. >> we'll keep an eye on the nets. the knicks have been equally awful. why has the team staggered out of the gate? >> reporter: we haven't given enough talk about tyson chandler being out. he is certainly a big part of this team. they shouldn't be this bad. they shouldn't be losing to everybody. mellow called them a laughing talk. thursday night as i caught it,

the nets and the knicks, nobody is buying any tickets for it. it was supposed to be a grand scale. and if the knicks lose i wouldn't be surprised if woodson losses his job so soon. the lakers, without kobe bryant, when do you hear a timetable for bryant's return. >> reporter: it's looking good for bryant. he's practiced the last two days. everybody is looking forward to friday. even nba tv changed their programming to show this game. i expect kobe mr. play friday unless there is a setback tomorrow. steve nash, he had good workouts in his hometown of vancouver. just got back. but it will be a couple of more weeks before you see that back occurred back fully. >> do you like the lakers

building around kobe britain for the two years that he signed. >> he deserves it. highways done a lot for the lakers, for the league, for basketball, he deserves it. but his buddy, his boy, carmelo anthony, whose wife is filming in los angeles, keep an eye on the lakers. they have the money to bring carmelo there and if the knicks keep struggling i wouldn't be surprised to see those two good buddies together next season. >> in portland, an under appreciated story. the trailblazers have been terrific with wins ove, why is support lanportland played so w? >> they've got veteran leadership. richardson, really, really great play by lillard, i think they

are a big surprise. but after beating the pacers, after they win tonight against oklahoma city we got to start calling them--stop calling them a surprise and start calling them for real. >> who are the great teams, are the blazers in that group? >> they're in that group. i still like the spurs. that's a team we never talk about, and they're playing the best basketball. >> mark, we appreciate it, man. >> take care. >> reporter: there go. >> so your team. >> magic johnson's lakers. that's it. >> reporter: yep. >> it gets complicated from there. nothing says christmas in new york like the rockefeller tree. tonight the 76-foot christmas tree will light up the sky with 50,000 lights with a large crystal star at the top. goo-goo dolls, are they still

performing, jewel and mary j. blige are among the musicians performing. sorry about that. a storm is making it's way across the country. dave warren is back with a look at the national forecast. >> every sunday night al jazeera

america brings

>> meteorologist: the cold arctic air will work its way south. there is snow coming down still. we have a lot of snow yesterday in minnesota. more snow coming down as the cold air pushes south and we have warm air pushing up, that will continue. look at these teaches as we wake up tomorrow morning. this is what it feels like on your skin. when you factor the wind gusts and cold temperatures, it feels like 30 below. now the problem comes in with the storm developing over the texas panhandle and oklahoma. you've warm air coming over this

cold air. it's falling as rain. it could freeze before it hits the ground or freeze when it hits the ground. that will be thursday night and friday morning. it will will fall with a little freezing rain through the midwest through ohio and pennsylvania. this by friday morning. the main area of concern is over texas and oklahoma. 50s and 60s. temperatures 5 to 15 degrees, that's the wind chill. you'll notice the drop of temperatures along the mid atlanta states and new england. quarter of a half inch of ice easily causing problems. but when you get that number, downed trees and pow lines. power outages are likely. a look at headlines are up next.

>> this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm tony harris with a look at today's stories. an opportunity was shot a--a student was shot at west orange high school in orlando. the orange county sheriff department confirms the 15-year-old victim is being streeted and is in stable condition. meanwhile a 17-year-old suspect has been identified and is in custody. we'll bring you more information as it becomes available. recordings of the 911 calls from sandy hook elementary school, it reveals a mixture of